Wednesday, 23 August 2017

As many of you know I am actually a Classical Archaeology/ Art History PhD student starting this fall and a part of that life choice comes the fun and hands-on part of the job which include field-schools, excavations and internships. This summer I decided to join a Conservation field School in Stobi, Macedonia working on conserving mosaics and wall paintings from the Roman-Christian times. On my way to Macedonia, I stopped over in London to visit some friends I had made from my time there, as well as from Oxford, as a student. The best part of having friends living and working in London is that they keep me well informed about the new and exciting places that pop-up in this ever metropolitan city. London is a city that never ceases to surprise or give--believe me this blog post does no justice to my experience of London this time around. I also made an effort to put my phone away and enjoy myself--this means that I didn't pack my fancy camera (or any camera of a sort which is huge for me!).

Day 1:
The day arrived in London it was bloody hot...like...I got my best tan of my whole trip on this first day. As soon as I arrived in Heathrow I changed into a pair of shorts and a light-airy top and messaged my friend Sonum and we decided to meet at Acton town from where we went straight to Comptoir Libanais in South Kensington. Sonum is one of my oldest and dearest friends that I lived with when I went to Central Saint Martins almost 10 years ago. [Yes, I was lugging my suitcase around the whole time] The food was absolutely delicious and the outdoor on the street seated area of the restaurant is one of my favourite features of this part of London. We sat, we ate and we chatted for hours and then decided to grab an ice cream from Venchi Cioccolata. Afterwards my friends swapped me out and I was handed over to Nila, with whom I stayed with for the duration of my trip.

Day 2 was a slower day where I slept in, had a home cooked breakfast made my Nila and then went shopping on Kensington high street. I did manage to spot the guy that plays Prince Robert in the Royals, so my token celebrity spotting box was ticked! After exhausting ourselves by shopping Nila and I stopped over at Candella for high tea. It is one of the most adorable tea houses that I have ever been to!

We went home and relaxed for a bit after which we unknowingly entered into one of best nights of my life thus far on this earth--spent in Brixton. We first went to Neverland, a roof-style type popup with streetfood eats and byob type stuff. They had transformed the space into an eating area that opened up into a sandy beach with beach huts overlooking the Thames. After the yummiest haloumi make-shift burger (they had run out of the veggie options so the chef made something special up for us) we decided to hop on a bus to Brixton to dance under a church. Yup...you read that right...under a church--called Gremio de Brixton. We then moved on from there and we decided to follow the music which ended up being the best decision we made because it led to a street dance party enlivened by a street busker whose name escapes me. After he performed his last song, the crowd dispersed and we decided to once again follow the music. We were so thankful we did because we turned the corner to an even bigger drum & base/reggae street party. We left Brixton that night completely in disbelief of the wonderful and unexpected night we had had, one for the books--the stuff of legends.

It was a little rain-y on the third day so we cancelled our plans for Richmond park and decided to spend the day in Soho. We went to My Place Cafe where we ate a delicious sandwich that I paired with Camomile tea. Nila & I then met our friend Henry from Oxford and proceeded to Sketch, where we had tea. Sketch is definitely worth the visit but it is expensive, so consider yourself warned!

Tuesday, 8 August 2017

Pixi by Petra is a godsend beauty company. I have always had sensitive skin and always look for beauty products that are soft and gentle on the skin and use natural ingredients. After using Pixi products since their launch in Canada earlier this year on a consistent basis, I have found considerable change in my skin and wanted to share some of my favourite Pixi products:

I am always looking for products that leave my skin naturally glowing with that dewy finish and the glow-tonic does just that. It also deeply cleanses pores and sweeps away excess oil and impurities, evening out your skin tone. Its no wonder why this product is a best seller!

While the Peel & Polish leaves your skin exfoliated with its enzyme peel and soft the Nourishing Sleep Mask leaves your face glowing and rejuvenated. I usually leave the sleep mask on overnight and wake up with a nice shine and happy and hydrated skin--since we know that your skin requires a lot of moisture overnight this is the product to quench that thirst!

The rose Oil Blend is my absolute favourite product--I swear by it. Never have I used an oil that has left my skin feeling so restored and renewed. The 24k eye elixir is perfect to use under my concealer to reduce the puffiness around my eyes.

The sheer cheek gel is a perfect stainer that works in great combo with the other products that make your skin glow to give your skin that dew-y finish and it feels light on the skin. The Large lash mascara is perfect for creating a full lash line and to compliment the endless silky eye pen which is a really rich black and doesn't move once you've put it on (believe me this is a problem I have because of my oily eyelids).

*note this blog post is not sponsored by pixi by petra. however, we did receive these pixi by beauty products c/o pixi by petra. there are some affiliate links in this post. and all opinions expressed are our own*

Footnotes and Finds is a lifestyle blog by Tript and Prabh, two sisters from Vancouver, B.C. Sisters by birth but best friends by choice, they spent all of their time together anyways and decided to turn their creative projects and conversations into a blog featuring fashion, travel, food, health, music and Bollywood.